Methods and system for presenting search results

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are described herein for a media guidance application that facilitates presenting, to a user, media assets that match a search expression by generating for display media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets that are scheduled for transmission to a plurality of users during a specific time interval. The media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets that match the search expression are distinguished from media asset identifiers that correspond to media assets that do not match the search expression. Furthermore, media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets that match the search expression are distinguished from each other based on an attribute of each media asset that matches the search expression.

BACKGROUND

In conventional systems, users have access to a plethora of mediacontent. In most cases users can view what content will be available inthe future through a media guidance application. However, with so muchcontent available, users often require assistance in locating contentthat they may be interested in. In addition, users require an efficientsystem that is able to present that content and differentiate thatcontent from content that is not of interest to those users.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, systems and methods are described herein for a mediaguidance application that facilitates presenting, to a user, mediaassets that match a search expression by generating for display mediaasset identifiers corresponding to media assets that are scheduled fortransmission to a plurality of users during a specific time intervalwhere the media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets thatmatch the search expression are distinguished from media assetidentifiers that correspond to media assets that do not match the searchexpression. Furthermore, media asset identifiers corresponding to mediaassets that match the search expression are distinguished from eachother based on an attribute associated with each corresponding mediaasset that matches the search expression.

In some aspects, the media guidance application may identify, based on asearch expression, a first plurality of media assets that are scheduledfor transmission to a plurality of users during a time interval. Forexample, the media guidance application may receive (e.g., from a user)a search expression that includes a keyword “sports.” The media guidanceapplication may then search available media assets (e.g., by searchingmetadata associated with the available media assets) for “sports.” As aresult, for example, the media guidance application may include in thefirst plurality of media assets those media assets that match thekeyword “sports” and are scheduled for transmission to the plurality ofusers between the hours of 8 PM and 11 PM.

The media guidance application may then generate for display a secondplurality of media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets thatare scheduled for transmission to the plurality of users during the timeinterval. As in the example above, the media guidance application mayhave determined the time interval to be between the hours of 8 PM and 11PM. Based on the time interval, the media guidance application maygenerate for display a grid that shows on one axis the time interval(e.g., 8 PM to 11 PM) and on another axis representations of contentsources (e.g., channels, Internet sources, video-on-demand sources,etc.). Inside the grid, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay media asset identifiers that correspond to media assets thatwill be transmitted to the plurality of users during the time intervaland from those content sources corresponding to the displayedrepresentations.

The media guidance application may visually distinguish between a firstportion of the second plurality of media asset identifiers and a secondportion of the second plurality of media asset identifiers. The firstportion of the second plurality media asset identifiers may correspondto media assets identified based on the search expression, and thesecond portion of the second plurality of media asset identifiers maycorrespond to media assets not identified based on the searchexpression. For example, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay the media asset identifiers in the second portion free of anyspecial indicators, while the media asset identifiers in the firstportion may be generated for display with specific indicators (e.g.,different colors, different shading, different symbols, etc.).

The media guidance application may further visually distinguish mediaasset identifiers in the first portion from each other based on anattribute associated with their respective media assets. As exemplifiedabove, the media guidance application may receive a search expressionthat includes keyword “sports” and identify a football game and an icehockey game as media assets that are scheduled to be transmitted to theplurality of users between the hours of 8 PM and 11 PM. The mediaguidance application may generate for display a media asset identifierassociated with the football game (“the first media asset identifier”)in one color (e.g., blue) and generate for display a media assetidentifier associated with the ice hockey game (“the second media assetidentifier”) in a different color (e.g., red). As a result, the firstand second media asset identifiers will be distinguished from each otherbased on a type of sport, an attribute associated with each respectivemedia asset. The media guidance application may, of course, identifymore media assets that match a search expression that includes keyword“sports” and generate for display other media asset identifiersassociated with other sports in different colors (e.g., media assetidentifier for a baseball game in color yellow). The media guidanceapplication may use indicators other than color to distinguish betweenmedia asset identifiers with a different attribute (e.g., differentshading, different geographical shapes, different fonts, or textualindicators).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may identify, basedon the search expression, the first plurality of media assets that isscheduled for transmission to the plurality of users during the timeinterval by first receiving the search expression from a user. Forexample, the media guidance application may enable a user to inputkeywords to be included in a search expression. Additionally oralternatively, the media guidance application may enable the user toselect different attributes or types of attributes associated with mediaassets to be used in a search expression. Those attributes may includemedium type of media asset (e.g., video, audio, book, etc.), programtype of the media asset (e.g., movie, news program, documentary,cartoon, sit-com, sports, etc.), and/or genre of the media asset (e.g.,drama, action, comedy, etc.).

The media guidance application may then perform a search of media assetsthat are scheduled for transmission to the plurality of users. Forexample, the media guidance application may search all metadataavailable (e.g., media asset identifiers) whether locally (e.g., on aset top box) or remotely (e.g., on a server) to identify media assetsthat match the search expression.

The media guidance application may determine the time interval, wherethe time interval corresponds to a time period that includes a largestnumber of media assets that are found based on the search. For example,the media guidance application may have received keyword “movies” to beincluded in a search expression. The media guidance application maysearch all media asset identifiers available in order to match mediaassets with the keyword “movies.” As an example, the media guidanceapplication may identify, based on the search, thirty movies that arescheduled for transmission to the plurality of users between 8 PM and 11PM on Friday night and only twenty or less movies within other timeperiods. As a result, the media guidance application may select the 8 PMto 11 PM time interval as the time interval.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may receive the timeinterval (e.g., from a user) and adjust the search to include only thattime interval. Additionally or alternatively, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display options for a user to choose a timeinterval. For example, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay an option to a user to search a specific time interval every dayof the week (e.g., 5 PM to 8 PM Monday-Sunday, weekend days only,weekdays only, etc.). Also, the media guidance application may recommenda time interval to the user based on the user's viewing habits (e.g.,evening time, daytime, morning time, etc.).

In some embodiments, as described above, the media guidance applicationmay generate for display search results within a grid having a timeinterval on one axis and representations of content sources on anotheraxis. The media guidance application may arrange media asset identifiersaccording to a respective source and a respective time period. Forexample, the media guidance application may select representations of auser's favorite content sources to generate for display within the grid.Alternatively, the media guidance application may select to generate fordisplay representations of content sources displayed at the time asearch query is received. In another example, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display, within the grid, representationsof content sources that have media assets identified by the searchscheduled to be transmitted to the plurality of users at the time thesearch is executed or soon thereafter, with content sources having themedia assets with transmission times closer to the current timedisplayed more prominently.

In some embodiments, when the media guidance application generates fordisplay the second plurality of media asset identifiers within a grid,the media guidance application may enable a user to navigate the grid toview search results scheduled for transmission via content sources,representations of which are not currently displayed. The media guidanceapplication may receive a command (e.g., from a user) to navigate to adifferent plurality of content sources. For example, the media guidanceapplication may be displaying media asset identifiers associated withfive content sources (e.g., channels 1-5). The media guidanceapplication may receive the command to navigate to a different channelset (e.g., channels 6-10). The media guidance application may thenidentify a third portion of the first plurality of media assets, wherethe third portion of the first plurality of media assets includes mediaassets scheduled for transmission to the plurality of users during thetime interval and from the different plurality of content sources. Forexample, as described above, the media guidance application may receivea user command to navigate to channels 6-10 while media assetidentifiers corresponding to media assets matching keyword “sports” andthat are scheduled for transmission time between 8 PM and 11 PM aredisplayed within the grid. As a result, the media guidance applicationmay identify media assets that match keyword “sports” on channels 6-10during the time interval between 8 PM and 11 PM. The media guidanceapplication may generate for display media asset identifierscorresponding to media assets scheduled for transmission on channels6-10 between 8 PM and 11 PM and visually distinguish media assetidentifiers corresponding to media assets that match “sports” and alsovisually distinguish media asset identifiers corresponding to mediaassets associated with different sports (e.g., soccer, baseball,basketball, ice hockey, etc.).

In some embodiments, when the media guidance application generates fordisplay the second plurality of media asset identifiers within a grid,the media guidance application may enable a user to navigate the grid toview search results during different time intervals. The media guidanceapplication may receive a command (e.g., from a user) to navigate to adifferent time interval. For example, the media guidance application mayhave generated for display media asset identifiers corresponding tomedia assets scheduled for transmission between 8 PM and 11 PM. Themedia guidance application may receive the command to navigate to adifferent time interval (e.g., between 5 PM and 8 PM). The mediaguidance application may then identify a fourth portion of the firstplurality of media assets, where the fourth portion of the firstplurality of media assets includes media assets scheduled fortransmission to the plurality of users during the different timeinterval. For example, as described above, the media guidanceapplication may receive a user command to navigate to a time intervalbetween 5 PM and 8 PM while media asset identifiers corresponding tomedia assets matching keyword “sports” having a scheduled transmissiontime between 8 PM and 11 PM on channels 1-5, respectively, are displayedwithin the grid. As a result, the media guidance application mayidentify media assets that match keyword “sports” that are scheduled fortransmission during the time interval between 5 PM and 8 PM on channels1-5, respectively. The media guidance application may then generate fordisplay media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets scheduledfor transmission on channels 1-5 between 5 PM and 8 PM, respectively.The media guidance application may visually distinguish media assetidentifiers corresponding to media assets that match keyword “sports”from media asset identifiers that do not match keyword “sports” and alsovisually distinguish media asset identifiers corresponding to mediaassets associated with different sports (e.g., soccer, baseball,basketball, ice hockey, etc.).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may use indicatorsto visually distinguish those media asset identifiers that correspond tomedia assets that match the search expression from media assetidentifiers that correspond to media assets that do not match the searchexpression. The media guidance application may also use differentindicators to visually distinguish media asset identifiers correspondingto media assets that are associated with different attributes. The mediaguidance application may determine the first and second portions of thesecond plurality of media asset identifiers. The first portion maycorrespond to those media assets that match the search expression, andthe second portion may correspond to media assets that do not match thesearch expression. The media guidance application may generate fordisplay the first and second portions where each media asset identifierassociated with the first portion includes an indicator indicating acorresponding attribute. The first media asset identifier may include afirst indicator corresponding to a first attribute associated with amedia asset corresponding to the first media asset identifier, and thesecond media asset identifier may include a second indicatorcorresponding to a second attribute associated with a media assetcorresponding to the second media asset identifier.

For example, the media guidance application may generate for display thefirst portion and the second portion in such a way that every indicatorin the first portion indicates an attribute of the corresponding mediaasset. If the media guidance application receives keyword “music” to beincluded in a search expression, the media guidance application mayindicate media assets associated with the keyword “music” in differentcolors based on the genre of the media asset (e.g., rock, oldies, rap,techno, etc.) and indicate all other media asset identifiers in white orgenerate those media asset identifiers for display with partialtransparency. The media guidance application may use other indicators tovisually distinguish media asset identifiers corresponding to mediaassets that match the search expression based on an attribute. Forexample, the media guidance application may select popularity as anattribute and generate for display media asset identifiers withdifferent transparencies based on popularity. For example, the mediaguidance application may generate for display media asset identifierscorresponding to more popular media assets with less transparency andmedia asset identifiers corresponding to media assets that are lesspopular with more transparency.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine, basedon the search expression itself, which attribute to use to visuallydistinguish media asset identifiers corresponding to the identifiedmedia assets. The media guidance application may first determine a typeof attribute based on the search expression. For example, if the mediaguidance application receives keyword “sports” to be included in asearch expression, the media guidance application may determine that atype of attribute based on the search expression is a type of sportassociated with the identified media assets. In another example, if thesearch expression includes keyword “movies,” the media guidanceapplication may determine that the type of attribute based on the searchexpression is a genre of the movie. The media guidance application maythen determine the first attribute associated with the first media assetbased on the type of attribute and also determine the second attribute,different from the first attribute, associated with the second mediaasset based on the type of attribute. For example, if the media guidanceapplication receives keyword “movies” to be included in a searchexpression, the media guidance application may determine that “genre” isthe type of attribute associated with the search expression, and basedon that, determine that one identified media asset is associated with agenre of “drama” and another identified media asset is associated with agenre of “comedy.”

The media guidance application may then assign a first indicator to thefirst media asset and assign a second indicator, different from thefirst indicator, to the second media asset. For example, the mediaguidance application may assign the color “blue” to a media assetidentifier corresponding to the media asset having an associatedattribute of “drama” and the color “green” to a media asset identifiercorresponding to the media asset having an associated attribute of“comedy.” The media guidance application may then generate for displaythe first media asset identifier with the first indicator and the secondmedia asset identifier with the second indicator. To continue with theexample above, the media guidance application may generate for displaythe media asset identifier for the media asset identifier correspondingto the media asset having an associated attribute of “drama” in color“blue” and the media asset identifier corresponding to the media assethaving an associated attribute of “comedy” in the color “green.”

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may identify mediaassets scheduled for transmission to a plurality of users during a timeinterval and based on a search expression by utilizing a database.Specifically, the media guidance application may cross-reference thesearch expression with a database listing media assets, attributescorresponding to those media assets, and scheduled times correspondingto those media assets. For example, if the media guidance applicationreceives keyword “sit-coms” to be included in the search expression, themedia guidance application may compare “sit-coms” with listings of mediaassets in the database in order to determine which media assets in thedatabase match that keyword. As a result, the media guidance applicationmay identify, based on the cross-referencing, those media assets thatmatch the search expression. The media guidance application may thenretrieve, from the database, a scheduled transmission time associatedwith each identified media asset, and identify the time interval basedon a time period, including the largest number of the identified mediaassets. For example, as described above, the media guidance applicationmay identify, based on the search, thirty movies that are scheduled fortransmission to the plurality of users between 8 PM and 11 PM on Fridaynight and only twenty or less movies within other time periods. As aresult, the media guidance application may select Friday 8 PM to 11 PMtime interval as the time interval. The media guidance application maythen select, from the identified media assets, those media assets thatmatch the search expression as the first plurality of media assets.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may enable a user toview information associated with a media asset that was identified aspart of the search. Specifically, the media guidance application may,based on a user selection of the first media asset identifier, generatefor display information associated with the first attribute. Forexample, if the media guidance application receives keyword “music” tobe included in the search expression, the media guidance application maygenerate for display media asset identifiers corresponding to mediaassets that are associated with keyword “music.” The media guidanceapplication may also visually distinguish media asset identifierscorresponding to the identified media assets based on the genreassociated with the identified media assets (e.g., rock, rap, techno,etc.). The media guidance application may then receive a user selectionof one of the media asset identifiers and generate for displayinformation related to the genre of the media asset.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may enable a user toinstruct the media guidance application to store a search expression inorder to execute the same search in the future. The media guidanceapplication may enable a user to indicate to the media guidanceapplication whether to store the search expression with or withoutspecifying the time interval to search. Specifically, the media guidanceapplication may generate for display a plurality of options where theplurality of options enables a user to define the search expression andthe time interval. As stated above, the media guidance application mayor may not generate for display an option to the user to select the timeinterval. The media guidance application may receive user input definingthe search expression and the time interval. Additionally, if the mediaguidance application generates for display a selection of the timeinterval, the media guidance application may or may not require the userto select a specific time interval in addition to the search expression.

The media guidance application may then receive user input defining thesearch expression and the time interval. As described above, the mediaguidance application may receive the search expression with or withoutthe time interval. The media guidance application may store, in adatabase, the defined search expression and the time interval if thetime interval is received. The media guidance application may then,based on a user command to execute a search based on the stored searchexpression, retrieve the stored search expression and the stored timeinterval from the database. The media guidance application may or maynot retrieve from the database the time interval. The media guidanceapplication may then identify, based on the search expression, a secondplurality of media assets that is scheduled for transmission to theplurality of users during the defined time interval. If the mediaguidance application determines that the time interval was not input bythe user, the media guidance application may determine the time intervalin any fashion described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative embodiment of a display screen that may beused to provide media guidance application listings and other mediaguidance information, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 shows another illustrative embodiment of a display screen thatmay be used to provide media guidance application listings, inaccordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an illustrative device in accordance withsome embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an illustrative media system in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative embodiment of a display screen to providesearch results, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in providing searchresults to a user, in accordance with some embodiments of thedisclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in providingfurther details for providing search results to a user, in accordancewith some embodiments of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

The amount of content available to users in any given content deliverysystem can be substantial. Consequently, many users desire a form ofmedia guidance through an interface that allows users to efficientlynavigate content selections and easily identify content that they maydesire. An application that provides such guidance is referred to hereinas an interactive media guidance application or, sometimes, a mediaguidance application or a guidance application.

Interactive media guidance applications may take various forms dependingon the content for which they provide guidance. One typical type ofmedia guidance application is an interactive television program guide.Interactive television program guides (sometimes referred to aselectronic program guides) are well-known guidance applications that,among other things, allow users to navigate among and locate many typesof content or media assets. Interactive media guidance applications maygenerate graphical user interface screens that enable a user to navigateamong, locate and select content. As referred to herein, the terms“media asset” and “content” should be understood to mean anelectronically consumable user asset, such as television programming, aswell as pay-per-view programs, on-demand programs (as in video-on-demand(VOD) systems), Internet content (e.g., streaming content, downloadablecontent, Webcasts, etc.), video clips, audio, content information,pictures, rotating images, documents, playlists, websites, articles,books, electronic books, blogs, advertisements, chat sessions, socialmedia, applications, games, and/or any other media or multimedia and/orcombination of the same. Guidance applications also allow users tonavigate among and locate content. As referred to herein, the term“multimedia” should be understood to mean content that utilizes at leasttwo different content forms described above, for example, text, audio,images, video, or interactivity content forms. Content may be recorded,played, displayed or accessed by user equipment devices, but can also bepart of a live performance.

The media guidance application and/or any instructions for performingany of the embodiments discussed herein may be encoded on computerreadable media. Computer readable media includes any media capable ofstoring data. The computer readable media may be transitory, including,but not limited to, propagating electrical or electromagnetic signals,or may be non-transitory including, but not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memory or storage devices such as a hard disk,floppy disk, USB drive, DVD, CD, media cards, register memory, processorcaches, Random Access Memory (“RAM”), etc.

With the advent of the Internet, mobile computing, and high-speedwireless networks, users are accessing media on user equipment deviceson which they traditionally did not. As referred to herein, the phrase“user equipment device,” “user equipment,” “user device,” “electronicdevice,” “electronic equipment,” “media equipment device,” or “mediadevice” should be understood to mean any device for accessing thecontent described above, such as a television, a Smart TV, a set-topbox, an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) for handling satellitetelevision, a digital storage device, a digital media receiver (DMR), adigital media adapter (DMA), a streaming media device, a DVD player, aDVD recorder, a connected DVD, a local media server, a BLU-RAY player, aBLU-RAY recorder, a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputer, a WebTV box, a personal computer television (PC/TV), a PCmedia server, a PC media center, a hand-held computer, a stationarytelephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, aportable video player, a portable music player, a portable gamingmachine, a smart phone, or any other television equipment, computingequipment, or wireless device, and/or combination of the same. In someembodiments, the user equipment device may have a front facing screenand a rear facing screen, multiple front screens, or multiple angledscreens. In some embodiments, the user equipment device may have a frontfacing camera and/or a rear facing camera. On these user equipmentdevices, users may be able to navigate among and locate the same contentavailable through a television. Consequently, media guidance may beavailable on these devices, as well. The guidance provided may be forcontent available only through a television, for content available onlythrough one or more of other types of user equipment devices, or forcontent available both through a television and one or more of the othertypes of user equipment devices. The media guidance applications may beprovided as on-line applications (i.e., provided on a web-site), or asstand-alone applications or clients on user equipment devices. Variousdevices and platforms that may implement media guidance applications aredescribed in more detail below.

One of the functions of the media guidance application is to providemedia guidance data to users. As referred to herein, the phrase “mediaguidance data” or “guidance data” should be understood to mean any datarelated to content or data used in operating the guidance application.For example, the guidance data may include program information, guidanceapplication settings, user preferences, user profile information, medialistings, media-related information (e.g., broadcast times, broadcastchannels, titles, descriptions, ratings information (e.g., parentalcontrol ratings, critic's ratings, etc.), genre or category information,actor information, logo data for broadcasters' or providers' logos,etc.), media format (e.g., standard definition, high definition, 3D,etc.), advertisement information (e.g., text, images, media clips,etc.), on-demand information, blogs, websites, and any other type ofguidance data that is helpful for a user to navigate among and locatedesired content selections.

FIGS. 1-2 show illustrative display screens that may be used to providemedia guidance data. The display screens shown in FIGS. 1-2 may beimplemented on any suitable user equipment device or platform. While thedisplays of FIGS. 1-2 are illustrated as full screen displays, they mayalso be fully or partially overlaid over content being displayed. A usermay indicate a desire to access content information by selecting aselectable option provided in a display screen (e.g., a menu option, alistings option, an icon, a hyperlink, etc.) or pressing a dedicatedbutton (e.g., a GUIDE button) on a remote control or other user inputinterface or device. In response to the user's indication, the mediaguidance application may provide a display screen with media guidancedata organized in one of several ways, such as by time and channel in agrid, by time, by channel, by source, by content type, by category(e.g., movies, sports, news, children, or other categories ofprogramming), or other predefined, user-defined, or other organizationcriteria.

FIG. 1 shows illustrative grid of a program listings display 100arranged by time and channel that also enables access to different typesof content in a single display. Display 100 may include grid 102 with:(1) a column of channel/content type identifiers 104, where eachchannel/content type identifier (which is a cell in the column)identifies a different channel or content type available; and (2) a rowof time identifiers 106, where each time identifier (which is a cell inthe row) identifies a time block of programming. Grid 102 also includescells of program listings, such as program listing 108, where eachlisting provides the title of the program provided on the listing'sassociated channel and time. With a user input device, a user can selectprogram listings by moving highlight region 110. Information relating tothe program listing selected by highlight region 110 may be provided inprogram information region 112. Region 112 may include, for example, theprogram title, the program description, the time the program is provided(if applicable), the channel the program is on (if applicable), theprogram's rating, and other desired information.

In addition to providing access to linear programming (e.g., contentthat is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of user equipmentdevices at a predetermined time and is provided according to aschedule), the media guidance application also provides access tonon-linear programming (e.g., content accessible to a user equipmentdevice at any time and is not provided according to a schedule).Non-linear programming may include content from different contentsources including on-demand content (e.g., VOD), Internet content (e.g.,streaming media, downloadable media, etc.), locally stored content(e.g., content stored on any user equipment device described above orother storage device), or other time-independent content. On-demandcontent may include movies or any other content provided by a particularcontent provider (e.g., HBO On Demand providing “The Sopranos” and “CurbYour Enthusiasm”). HBO ON DEMAND is a service mark owned by Time WarnerCompany L.P. et al. and THE SOPRANOS and CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM aretrademarks owned by the Home Box Office, Inc. Internet content mayinclude web events, such as a chat session or Webcast, or contentavailable on-demand as streaming content or downloadable content throughan Internet web site or other Internet access (e.g. FTP).

Grid 102 may provide media guidance data for non-linear programmingincluding on-demand listing 114, recorded content listing 116, andInternet content listing 118. A display combining media guidance datafor content from different types of content sources is sometimesreferred to as a “mixed-media” display. Various permutations of thetypes of media guidance data that may be displayed that are differentthan display 100 may be based on user selection or guidance applicationdefinition (e.g., a display of only recorded and broadcast listings,only on-demand and broadcast listings, etc.). As illustrated, listings114, 116, and 118 are shown as spanning the entire time block displayedin grid 102 to indicate that selection of these listings may provideaccess to a display dedicated to on-demand listings, recorded listings,or Internet listings, respectively. In some embodiments, listings forthese content types may be included directly in grid 102. Additionalmedia guidance data may be displayed in response to the user selectingone of the navigational icons 120. (Pressing an arrow key on a userinput device may affect the display in a similar manner as selectingnavigational icons 120.)

Display 100 may also include video region 122, advertisement 124, andoptions region 126. Video region 122 may allow the user to view and/orpreview programs that are currently available, will be available, orwere available to the user. The content of video region 122 maycorrespond to, or be independent from, one of the listings displayed ingrid 102. Grid displays including a video region are sometimes referredto as picture-in-guide (PIG) displays. PIG displays and theirfunctionalities are described in greater detail in Satterfield et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,378, issued May 13, 2003 and Yuen et al. U.S. Pat.No. 6,239,794, issued May 29, 2001, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entireties. PIG displays may be included inother media guidance application display screens of the embodimentsdescribed herein.

Advertisement 124 may provide an advertisement for content that,depending on a viewer's access rights (e.g., for subscriptionprogramming), is currently available for viewing, will be available forviewing in the future, or may never become available for viewing, andmay correspond to or be unrelated to one or more of the content listingsin grid 102. Advertisement 124 may also be for products or servicesrelated or unrelated to the content displayed in grid 102. Advertisement124 may be selectable and provide further information about content,provide information about a product or a service, enable purchasing ofcontent, a product, or a service, provide content relating to theadvertisement, etc. Advertisement 124 may be targeted based on a user'sprofile/preferences, monitored user activity, the type of displayprovided, or on other suitable targeted advertisement bases.

While advertisement 124 is shown as rectangular or banner shaped,advertisements may be provided in any suitable size, shape, and locationin a guidance application display. For example, advertisement 124 may beprovided as a rectangular shape that is horizontally adjacent to grid102. This is sometimes referred to as a panel advertisement. Inaddition, advertisements may be overlaid over content or a guidanceapplication display or embedded within a display. Advertisements mayalso include text, images, rotating images, video clips, or other typesof content described above. Advertisements may be stored in a userequipment device having a guidance application, in a database connectedto the user equipment, in a remote location (including streaming mediaservers), or on other storage means, or a combination of theselocations. Providing advertisements in a media guidance application isdiscussed in greater detail in, for example, Knudson et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2003/0110499, filed Jan. 17, 2003; Ward, IIIet al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,997, issued Jun. 29, 2004; and Schein et al.U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,714, issued May 14, 2002, which are herebyincorporated by reference herein in their entireties. It will beappreciated that advertisements may be included in other media guidanceapplication display screens of the embodiments described herein.

Options region 126 may allow the user to access different types ofcontent, media guidance application displays, and/or media guidanceapplication features. Options region 126 may be part of display 100 (andother display screens described herein), or may be invoked by a user byselecting an on-screen option or pressing a dedicated or assignablebutton on a user input device. The selectable options within optionsregion 126 may concern features related to program listings in grid 102or may include options available from a main menu display. Featuresrelated to program listings may include searching for other air times orways of receiving a program, recording a program, enabling seriesrecording of a program, setting program and/or channel as a favorite,purchasing a program, or other features. Options available from a mainmenu display may include search options, VOD options, parental controloptions, Internet options, cloud-based options, device synchronizationoptions, second screen device options, options to access various typesof media guidance data displays, options to subscribe to a premiumservice, options to edit a user's profile, options to access a browseoverlay, or other options.

The media guidance application may be personalized based on a user'spreferences. A personalized media guidance application allows a user tocustomize displays and features to create a personalized “experience”with the media guidance application. This personalized experience may becreated by allowing a user to input these customizations and/or by themedia guidance application monitoring user activity to determine varioususer preferences. Users may access their personalized guidanceapplication by logging in or otherwise identifying themselves to theguidance application. Customization of the media guidance applicationmay be made in accordance with a user profile. The customizations mayinclude varying presentation schemes (e.g., color scheme of displays,font size of text, etc.), aspects of content listings displayed (e.g.,only HDTV or only 3D programming, user-specified broadcast channelsbased on favorite channel selections, re-ordering the display ofchannels, recommended content, etc.), desired recording features (e.g.,recording or series recordings for particular users, recording quality,etc.), parental control settings, customized presentation of Internetcontent (e.g., presentation of social media content, e-mail,electronically delivered articles, etc.) and other desiredcustomizations.

The media guidance application may allow a user to provide user profileinformation or may automatically compile user profile information. Themedia guidance application may, for example, monitor the content theuser accesses and/or other interactions the user may have with theguidance application. Additionally, the media guidance application mayobtain all or part of other user profiles that are related to aparticular user (e.g., from other web sites on the Internet the useraccesses, such as www.allrovi.com, from other media guidanceapplications the user accesses, from other interactive applications theuser accesses, from another user equipment device of the user, etc.),and/or obtain information about the user from other sources that themedia guidance application may access. As a result, a user can beprovided with a unified guidance application experience across theuser's different user equipment devices. This type of user experience isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with FIG. 4. Additionalpersonalized media guidance application features are described ingreater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005, Boyer et al., U.S. Pat. No.7,165,098, issued Jan. 16, 2007, and Ellis et al., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2002/0174430, filed Feb. 21, 2002, which arehereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Another display arrangement for providing media guidance is shown inFIG. 2. Video mosaic display 200 includes selectable options 202 forcontent information organized based on content type, genre, and/or otherorganization criteria. In display 200, television listings option 204 isselected, thus providing listings 206, 208, 210, and 212 as broadcastprogram listings. In display 200 the listings may provide graphicalimages including cover art, still images from the content, video clippreviews, live video from the content, or other types of content thatindicate to a user the content being described by the media guidancedata in the listing. Each of the graphical listings may also beaccompanied by text to provide further information about the contentassociated with the listing. For example, listing 208 may include morethan one portion, including media portion 214 and text portion 216.Media portion 214 and/or text portion 216 may be selectable to viewcontent in full-screen or to view information related to the contentdisplayed in media portion 214 (e.g., to view listings for the channelthat the video is displayed on).

The listings in display 200 are of different sizes (i.e., listing 206 islarger than listings 208, 210, and 212), but if desired, all thelistings may be the same size. Listings may be of different sizes orgraphically accentuated to indicate degrees of interest to the user orto emphasize certain content, as desired by the content provider orbased on user preferences. Various systems and methods for graphicallyaccentuating content listings are discussed in, for example, Yates, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0153885, filed Nov. 12, 2009,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Users may access content and the media guidance application (and itsdisplay screens described above and below) from one or more of theiruser equipment devices. FIG. 3 shows a generalized embodiment ofillustrative user equipment device 300. More specific implementations ofuser equipment devices are discussed below in connection with FIG. 4.User equipment device 300 may receive content and data via input/output(hereinafter “I/O”) path 302. I/O path 302 may provide content (e.g.,broadcast programming, on-demand programming, Internet content, contentavailable over a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN),and/or other content) and data to control circuitry 304, which includesprocessing circuitry 306 and storage 308. Control circuitry 304 may beused to send and receive commands, requests, and other suitable datausing I/O path 302. I/O path 302 may connect control circuitry 304 (andspecifically processing circuitry 306) to one or more communicationspaths (described below). I/O functions may be provided by one or more ofthese communications paths, but are shown as a single path in FIG. 3 toavoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Control circuitry 304 may be based on any suitable processing circuitrysuch as processing circuitry 306. As referred to herein, processingcircuitry should be understood to mean circuitry based on one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,programmable logic devices, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc., and may includea multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, hexa-core, or anysuitable number of cores) or supercomputer. In some embodiments,processing circuitry may be distributed across multiple separateprocessors or processing units, for example, multiple of the same typeof processing units (e.g., two Intel Core i7 processors) or multipledifferent processors (e.g., an Intel Core i5 processor and an Intel Corei7 processor). In some embodiments, control circuitry 304 executesinstructions for a media guidance application stored in memory (i.e.,storage 308). Specifically, control circuitry 304 may be instructed bythe media guidance application to perform the functions discussed aboveand below. For example, the media guidance application may provideinstructions to control circuitry 304 to generate the media guidancedisplays. In some implementations, any action performed by controlcircuitry 304 may be based on instructions received from the mediaguidance application.

In client-server based embodiments, control circuitry 304 may includecommunications circuitry suitable for communicating with a guidanceapplication server or other networks or servers. The instructions forcarrying out the above mentioned functionality may be stored on theguidance application server. Communications circuitry may include acable modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) modem, adigital subscriber line (DSL) modem, a telephone modem, Ethernet card,or a wireless modem for communications with other equipment, or anyother suitable communications circuitry. Such communications may involvethe Internet or any other suitable communications networks or paths(which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 4). Inaddition, communications circuitry may include circuitry that enablespeer-to-peer communication of user equipment devices, or communicationof user equipment devices in locations remote from each other (describedin more detail below).

Memory may be an electronic storage device provided as storage 308 thatis part of control circuitry 304. As referred to herein, the phrase“electronic storage device” or “storage device” should be understood tomean any device for storing electronic data, computer software, orfirmware, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, hard drives,optical drives, digital video disc (DVD) recorders, compact disc (CD)recorders, BLU-RAY disc (BD) recorders, BLU-RAY 3D disc recorders,digital video recorders (DVR, sometimes called a personal videorecorder, or PVR), solid state devices, quantum storage devices, gamingconsoles, gaming media, or any other suitable fixed or removable storagedevices, and/or any combination of the same. Storage 308 may be used tostore various types of content described herein as well as mediaguidance data described above. Nonvolatile memory may also be used(e.g., to launch a boot-up routine and other instructions). Cloud-basedstorage, described in relation to FIG. 4, may be used to supplementstorage 308 or instead of storage 308.

Control circuitry 304 may include video generating circuitry and tuningcircuitry, such as one or more analog tuners, one or more MPEG-2decoders or other digital decoding circuitry, high-definition tuners, orany other suitable tuning or video circuits or combinations of suchcircuits. Encoding circuitry (e.g., for converting over-the-air, analog,or digital signals to MPEG signals for storage) may also be provided.Control circuitry 304 may also include scaler circuitry for upconvertingand downconverting content into the preferred output format of the userequipment 300. Circuitry 304 may also include digital-to-analogconverter circuitry and analog-to-digital converter circuitry forconverting between digital and analog signals. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may be used by the user equipment device to receive and todisplay, to play, or to record content. The tuning and encodingcircuitry may also be used to receive guidance data. The circuitrydescribed herein, including for example, the tuning, video generating,encoding, decoding, encrypting, decrypting, scaler, and analog/digitalcircuitry, may be implemented using software running on one or moregeneral purpose or specialized processors. Multiple tuners may beprovided to handle simultaneous tuning functions (e.g., watch and recordfunctions, picture-in-picture (PIP) functions, multiple-tuner recording,etc.). If storage 308 is provided as a separate device from userequipment 300, the tuning and encoding circuitry (including multipletuners) may be associated with storage 308.

A user may send instructions to control circuitry 304 using user inputinterface 310. User input interface 310 may be any suitable userinterface, such as a remote control, mouse, trackball, keypad, keyboard,touch screen, touchpad, stylus input, joystick, voice recognitioninterface, or other user input interfaces. Display 312 may be providedas a stand-alone device or integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300. For example, display 312 may be a touchscreen ortouch-sensitive display. In such circumstances, user input interface 310may be integrated with or combined with display 312. Display 312 may beone or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD)for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, activematrix display, electro-wetting display, electrofluidic display, cathoderay tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescentdisplay, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display,thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED), laser television,carbon nanotubes, quantum dot display, interferometric modulatordisplay, or any other suitable equipment for displaying visual images.In some embodiments, display 312 may be HDTV-capable. In someembodiments, display 312 may be a 3D display, and the interactive mediaguidance application and any suitable content may be displayed in 3D. Avideo card or graphics card may generate the output to the display 312.The video card may offer various functions such as accelerated renderingof 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or theability to connect multiple monitors. The video card may be anyprocessing circuitry described above in relation to control circuitry304. The video card may be integrated with the control circuitry 304.Speakers 314 may be provided as integrated with other elements of userequipment device 300 or may be stand-alone units. The audio component ofvideos and other content displayed on display 312 may be played throughspeakers 314. In some embodiments, the audio may be distributed to areceiver (not shown), which processes and outputs the audio via speakers314.

The guidance application may be implemented using any suitablearchitecture. For example, it may be a stand-alone applicationwholly-implemented on user equipment device 300. In such an approach,instructions of the application are stored locally (e.g., in storage308), and data for use by the application is downloaded on a periodicbasis (e.g., from an out-of-band feed, from an Internet resource, orusing another suitable approach). Control circuitry 304 may retrieveinstructions of the application from storage 308 and process theinstructions to generate any of the displays discussed herein. Based onthe processed instructions, control circuitry 304 may determine whataction to perform when input is received from input interface 310. Forexample, movement of a cursor on a display up/down may be indicated bythe processed instructions when input interface 310 indicates that anup/down button was selected.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is a client-serverbased application. Data for use by a thick or thin client implemented onuser equipment device 300 is retrieved on-demand by issuing requests toa server remote to the user equipment device 300. In one example of aclient-server based guidance application, control circuitry 304 runs aweb browser that interprets web pages provided by a remote server. Forexample, the remote server may store the instructions for theapplication in a storage device. The remote server may process thestored instructions using circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 304) andgenerate the displays discussed above and below. The client device mayreceive the displays generated by the remote server and may display thecontent of the displays locally on equipment device 300. This way, theprocessing of the instructions is performed remotely by the server whilethe resulting displays are provided locally on equipment device 300.Equipment device 300 may receive inputs from the user via inputinterface 310 and transmit those inputs to the remote server forprocessing and generating the corresponding displays. For example,equipment device 300 may transmit a communication to the remote serverindicating that an up/down button was selected via input interface 310.The remote server may process instructions in accordance with that inputand generate a display of the application corresponding to the input(e.g., a display that moves a cursor up/down). The generated display isthen transmitted to equipment device 300 for presentation to the user.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application is downloaded andinterpreted or otherwise run by an interpreter or virtual machine (runby control circuitry 304). In some embodiments, the guidance applicationmay be encoded in the ETV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), received bycontrol circuitry 304 as part of a suitable feed, and interpreted by auser agent running on control circuitry 304. For example, the guidanceapplication may be an EBIF application. In some embodiments, theguidance application may be defined by a series of JAVA-based files thatare received and run by a local virtual machine or other suitablemiddleware executed by control circuitry 304. In some of suchembodiments (e.g., those employing MPEG-2 or other digital mediaencoding schemes), the guidance application may be, for example, encodedand transmitted in an MPEG-2 object carousel with the MPEG audio andvideo packets of a program.

User equipment device 300 of FIG. 3 can be implemented in system 400 ofFIG. 4 as user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404,wireless user communications device 406, or any other type of userequipment suitable for accessing content, such as a non-portable gamingmachine. For simplicity, these devices may be referred to hereincollectively as user equipment or user equipment devices, and may besubstantially similar to user equipment devices described above. Userequipment devices, on which a media guidance application may beimplemented, may function as a standalone device or may be part of anetwork of devices. Various network configurations of devices may beimplemented and are discussed in more detail below.

A user equipment device utilizing at least some of the system featuresdescribed above in connection with FIG. 3 may not be classified solelyas user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, or awireless user communications device 406. For example, user televisionequipment 402 may, like some user computer equipment 404, beInternet-enabled allowing for access to Internet content, while usercomputer equipment 404 may, like some television equipment 402, includea tuner allowing for access to television programming. The mediaguidance application may have the same layout on various different typesof user equipment or may be tailored to the display capabilities of theuser equipment. For example, on user computer equipment 404, theguidance application may be provided as a web site accessed by a webbrowser. In another example, the guidance application may be scaled downfor wireless user communications devices 406.

In system 400, there is typically more than one of each type of userequipment device but only one of each is shown in FIG. 4 to avoidovercomplicating the drawing. In addition, each user may utilize morethan one type of user equipment device and also more than one of eachtype of user equipment device.

In some embodiments, a user equipment device (e.g., user televisionequipment 402, user computer equipment 404, wireless user communicationsdevice 406) may be referred to as a “second screen device.” For example,a second screen device may supplement content presented on a first userequipment device. The content presented on the second screen device maybe any suitable content that supplements the content presented on thefirst device. In some embodiments, the second screen device provides aninterface for adjusting settings and display preferences of the firstdevice. In some embodiments, the second screen device is configured forinteracting with other second screen devices or for interacting with asocial network. The second screen device can be located in the same roomas the first device, a different room from the first device but in thesame house or building, or in a different building from the firstdevice.

The user may also set various settings to maintain consistent mediaguidance application settings across in-home devices and remote devices.Settings include those described herein, as well as channel and programfavorites, programming preferences that the guidance applicationutilizes to make programming recommendations, display preferences, andother desirable guidance settings. For example, if a user sets a channelas a favorite on, for example, the web site www.allrovi.com on theirpersonal computer at their office, the same channel would appear as afavorite on the user's in-home devices (e.g., user television equipmentand user computer equipment) as well as the user's mobile devices, ifdesired. Therefore, changes made on one user equipment device can changethe guidance experience on another user equipment device, regardless ofwhether they are the same or a different type of user equipment device.In addition, the changes made may be based on settings input by a user,as well as user activity monitored by the guidance application.

The user equipment devices may be coupled to communications network 414.Namely, user television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, andwireless user communications device 406 are coupled to communicationsnetwork 414 via communications paths 408, 410, and 412, respectively.Communications network 414 may be one or more networks including theInternet, a mobile phone network, mobile voice or data network (e.g., a4G or LTE network), cable network, public switched telephone network, orother types of communications network or combinations of communicationsnetworks. Paths 408, 410, and 412 may separately or together include oneor more communications paths, such as, a satellite path, a fiber-opticpath, a cable path, a path that supports Internet communications (e.g.,IPTV), free-space connections (e.g., for broadcast or other wirelesssignals), or any other suitable wired or wireless communications path orcombination of such paths. Path 412 is drawn with dotted lines toindicate that in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 4 it is awireless path and paths 408 and 410 are drawn as solid lines to indicatethey are wired paths (although these paths may be wireless paths, ifdesired). Communications with the user equipment devices may be providedby one or more of these communications paths, but are shown as a singlepath in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing.

Although communications paths are not drawn between user equipmentdevices, these devices may communicate directly with each other viacommunication paths, such as those described above in connection withpaths 408, 410, and 412, as well as other short-range point-to-pointcommunication paths, such as USB cables, IEEE 1394 cables, wirelesspaths (e.g., Bluetooth, infrared, IEEE 802-11x, etc.), or othershort-range communication via wired or wireless paths. BLUETOOTH is acertification mark owned by Bluetooth SIG, INC. The user equipmentdevices may also communicate with each other directly through anindirect path via communications network 414.

System 400 includes content source 416 and media guidance data source418 coupled to communications network 414 via communication paths 420and 422, respectively. Paths 420 and 422 may include any of thecommunication paths described above in connection with paths 408, 410,and 412. Communications with the content source 416 and media guidancedata source 418 may be exchanged over one or more communications paths,but are shown as a single path in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating thedrawing. In addition, there may be more than one of each of contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418, but only one of each isshown in FIG. 4 to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. (The differenttypes of each of these sources are discussed below.) If desired, contentsource 416 and media guidance data source 418 may be integrated as onesource device. Although communications between sources 416 and 418 withuser equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 are shown as throughcommunications network 414, in some embodiments, sources 416 and 418 maycommunicate directly with user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 viacommunication paths (not shown) such as those described above inconnection with paths 408, 410, and 412.

Content source 416 may include one or more types of content distributionequipment including a television distribution facility, cable systemheadend, satellite distribution facility, programming sources (e.g.,television broadcasters, such as NBC, ABC, HBO, etc.), intermediatedistribution facilities and/or servers, Internet providers, on-demandmedia servers, and other content providers. NBC is a trademark owned bythe National Broadcasting Company, Inc., ABC is a trademark owned by theAmerican Broadcasting Company, Inc., and HBO is a trademark owned by theHome Box Office, Inc. Content source 416 may be the originator ofcontent (e.g., a television broadcaster, a Webcast provider, etc.) ormay not be the originator of content (e.g., an on-demand contentprovider, an Internet provider of content of broadcast programs fordownloading, etc.). Content source 416 may include cable sources,satellite providers, on-demand providers, Internet providers,over-the-top content providers, or other providers of content. Contentsource 416 may also include a remote media server used to storedifferent types of content (including video content selected by a user),in a location remote from any of the user equipment devices. Systems andmethods for remote storage of content, and providing remotely storedcontent to user equipment are discussed in greater detail in connectionwith Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,892, issued Jul. 20, 2010, whichis hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Media guidance data source 418 may provide media guidance data, such asthe media guidance data described above. Media guidance data may beprovided to the user equipment devices using any suitable approach. Insome embodiments, the guidance application may be a stand-aloneinteractive television program guide that receives program guide datavia a data feed (e.g., a continuous feed or trickle feed). Programschedule data and other guidance data may be provided to the userequipment on a television channel sideband, using an in-band digitalsignal, using an out-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitabledata transmission technique. Program schedule data and other mediaguidance data may be provided to user equipment on multiple analog ordigital television channels.

In some embodiments, guidance data from media guidance data source 418may be provided to users' equipment using a client-server approach. Forexample, a user equipment device may pull media guidance data from aserver, or a server may push media guidance data to a user equipmentdevice. In some embodiments, a guidance application client residing onthe user's equipment may initiate sessions with source 418 to obtainguidance data when needed, e.g., when the guidance data is out of dateor when the user equipment device receives a request from the user toreceive data. Media guidance may be provided to the user equipment withany suitable frequency (e.g., continuously, daily, a user-specifiedperiod of time, a system-specified period of time, in response to arequest from user equipment, etc.). Media guidance data source 418 mayprovide user equipment devices 402, 404, and 406 the media guidanceapplication itself or software updates for the media guidanceapplication.

In some embodiments, the media guidance data may include viewer data.For example, the viewer data may include current and/or historical useractivity information (e.g., what content the user typically watches,what times of day the user watches content, whether the user interactswith a social network, at what times the user interacts with a socialnetwork to post information, what types of content the user typicallywatches (e.g., pay TV or free TV), mood, brain activity information,etc.). The media guidance data may also include subscription data. Forexample, the subscription data may identify to which sources or servicesa given user subscribes and/or to which sources or services the givenuser has previously subscribed but later terminated access (e.g.,whether the user subscribes to premium channels, whether the user hasadded a premium level of services, whether the user has increasedInternet speed). In some embodiments, the viewer data and/or thesubscription data may identify patterns of a given user for a period ofmore than one year. The media guidance data may include a model (e.g., asurvivor model) used for generating a score that indicates a likelihooda given user will terminate access to a service/source. For example, themedia guidance application may process the viewer data with thesubscription data using the model to generate a value or score thatindicates a likelihood of whether the given user will terminate accessto a particular service or source. In particular, a higher score mayindicate a higher level of confidence that the user will terminateaccess to a particular service or source. Based on the score, the mediaguidance application may generate promotions and advertisements thatentice the user to keep the particular service or source indicated bythe score as one to which the user will likely terminate access.

Media guidance applications may be, for example, stand-aloneapplications implemented on user equipment devices. For example, themedia guidance application may be implemented as software or a set ofexecutable instructions which may be stored in storage 308, and executedby control circuitry 304 of a user equipment device 300. In someembodiments, media guidance applications may be client-serverapplications where only a client application resides on the userequipment device, and server application resides on a remote server. Forexample, media guidance applications may be implemented partially as aclient application on control circuitry 304 of user equipment device 300and partially on a remote server as a server application (e.g., mediaguidance data source 418) running on control circuitry of the remoteserver. When executed by control circuitry of the remote server (such asmedia guidance data source 418), the media guidance application mayinstruct the control circuitry to generate the guidance applicationdisplays and transmit the generated displays to the user equipmentdevices. The server application may instruct the control circuitry ofthe media guidance data source 418 to transmit data for storage on theuser equipment. The client application may instruct control circuitry ofthe receiving user equipment to generate the guidance applicationdisplays.

Content and/or media guidance data delivered to user equipment devices402, 404, and 406 may be over-the-top (OTT) content. OTT contentdelivery allows Internet-enabled user devices, including any userequipment device described above, to receive content that is transferredover the Internet, including any content described above, in addition tocontent received over cable or satellite connections. OTT content isdelivered via an Internet connection provided by an Internet serviceprovider (ISP), but a third party distributes the content. The ISP maynot be responsible for the viewing abilities, copyrights, orredistribution of the content, and may only transfer IP packets providedby the OTT content provider. Examples of OTT content providers includeYOUTUBE, NETFLIX, and HULU, which provide audio and video via IPpackets. Youtube is a trademark owned by Google Inc., Netflix is atrademark owned by Netflix Inc., and Hulu is a trademark owned by Hulu,LLC. OTT content providers may additionally or alternatively providemedia guidance data described above. In addition to content and/or mediaguidance data, providers of OTT content can distribute media guidanceapplications (e.g., web-based applications or cloud-based applications),or the content can be displayed by media guidance applications stored onthe user equipment device.

Media guidance system 400 is intended to illustrate a number ofapproaches, or network configurations, by which user equipment devicesand sources of content and guidance data may communicate with each otherfor the purpose of accessing content and providing media guidance. Theembodiments described herein may be applied in any one or a subset ofthese approaches, or in a system employing other approaches fordelivering content and providing media guidance. The following fourapproaches provide specific illustrations of the generalized example ofFIG. 4.

In one approach, user equipment devices may communicate with each otherwithin a home network. User equipment devices can communicate with eachother directly via short-range point-to-point communication schemesdescribed above, via indirect paths through a hub or other similardevice provided on a home network, or via communications network 414.Each of the multiple individuals in a single home may operate differentuser equipment devices on the home network. As a result, it may bedesirable for various media guidance information or settings to becommunicated between the different user equipment devices. For example,it may be desirable for users to maintain consistent media guidanceapplication settings on different user equipment devices within a homenetwork, as described in greater detail in Ellis et al., U.S. PatentPublication No. 2005/0251827, filed Jul. 11, 2005. Different types ofuser equipment devices in a home network may also communicate with eachother to transmit content. For example, a user may transmit content fromuser computer equipment to a portable video player or portable musicplayer.

In a second approach, users may have multiple types of user equipment bywhich they access content and obtain media guidance. For example, someusers may have home networks that are accessed by in-home and mobiledevices. Users may control in-home devices via a media guidanceapplication implemented on a remote device. For example, users mayaccess an online media guidance application on a website via a personalcomputer at their office, or a mobile device such as a PDA orweb-enabled mobile telephone. The user may set various settings (e.g.,recordings, reminders, or other settings) on the online guidanceapplication to control the user's in-home equipment. The online guidemay control the user's equipment directly, or by communicating with amedia guidance application on the user's in-home equipment. Varioussystems and methods for user equipment devices communicating, where theuser equipment devices are in locations remote from each other, isdiscussed in, for example, Ellis et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,046,801, issuedOct. 25, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

In a third approach, users of user equipment devices inside and outsidea home can use their media guidance application to communicate directlywith content source 416 to access content. Specifically, within a home,users of user television equipment 402 and user computer equipment 404may access the media guidance application to navigate among and locatedesirable content. Users may also access the media guidance applicationoutside of the home using wireless user communications devices 406 tonavigate among and locate desirable content.

In a fourth approach, user equipment devices may operate in a cloudcomputing environment to access cloud services. In a cloud computingenvironment, various types of computing services for content sharing,storage or distribution (e.g., video sharing sites or social networkingsites) are provided by a collection of network-accessible computing andstorage resources, referred to as “the cloud.” For example, the cloudcan include a collection of server computing devices, which may belocated centrally or at distributed locations, that provide cloud-basedservices to various types of users and devices connected via a networksuch as the Internet via communications network 414. These cloudresources may include one or more content sources 416 and one or moremedia guidance data sources 418. In addition or in the alternative, theremote computing sites may include other user equipment devices, such asuser television equipment 402, user computer equipment 404, and wirelessuser communications device 406. For example, the other user equipmentdevices may provide access to a stored copy of a video or a streamedvideo. In such embodiments, user equipment devices may operate in apeer-to-peer manner without communicating with a central server.

The cloud provides access to services, such as content storage, contentsharing, or social networking services, among other examples, as well asaccess to any content described above, for user equipment devices.Services can be provided in the cloud through cloud computing serviceproviders, or through other providers of online services. For example,the cloud-based services can include a content storage service, acontent sharing site, a social networking site, or other services viawhich user-sourced content is distributed for viewing by others onconnected devices. These cloud-based services may allow a user equipmentdevice to store content to the cloud and to receive content from thecloud rather than storing content locally and accessing locally-storedcontent.

A user may use various content capture devices, such as camcorders,digital cameras with video mode, audio recorders, mobile phones, andhandheld computing devices, to record content. The user can uploadcontent to a content storage service on the cloud either directly, forexample, from user computer equipment 404 or wireless usercommunications device 406 having content capture feature. Alternatively,the user can first transfer the content to a user equipment device, suchas user computer equipment 404. The user equipment device storing thecontent uploads the content to the cloud using a data transmissionservice on communications network 414. In some embodiments, the userequipment device itself is a cloud resource, and other user equipmentdevices can access the content directly from the user equipment deviceon which the user stored the content.

Cloud resources may be accessed by a user equipment device using, forexample, a web browser, a media guidance application, a desktopapplication, a mobile application, and/or any combination of accessapplications of the same. The user equipment device may be a cloudclient that relies on cloud computing for application delivery, or theuser equipment device may have some functionality without access tocloud resources. For example, some applications running on the userequipment device may be cloud applications, i.e., applications deliveredas a service over the Internet, while other applications may be storedand run on the user equipment device. In some embodiments, a user devicemay receive content from multiple cloud resources simultaneously. Forexample, a user device can stream audio from one cloud resource whiledownloading content from a second cloud resource. Or a user device candownload content from multiple cloud resources for more efficientdownloading. In some embodiments, user equipment devices can use cloudresources for processing operations such as the processing operationsperformed by processing circuitry described in relation to FIG. 3.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may present contentto a user that the user is interested in. Specifically, the mediaguidance application may identify, based on a search expression, a firstplurality of media assets that is scheduled for transmission to aplurality of users during a time interval. As referred to herein, theterm “search expression” refers to one or more symbols, numbers,selections, and/or letters that may be used in order to identify mediaassets. For example, search a expression may include keywords made up ofletters, numbers and/or symbols. A search expression may also include aselection of one more elements on a screen (e.g., options selected by auser that represent genres of media assets to search for).

The media guidance application may be implemented on a user device thatincludes components of device 300 (FIG. 3). The media guidanceapplication may be implemented on any user device such as devices 402,404, or 406 (FIG. 4). The media guidance application may have access tomedia assets and media asset identifiers. The media asset may be storedlocally in storage 308. Alternatively or additionally, media assets maybe stored at media content source 416 and/or media guidance data source418. Media asset identifiers may also be stored at media content source416 and/or media guidance data source 418. The media guidanceapplication may retrieve media asset identifiers from media contentsource 416 and/or media guidance data source 418 through communicationsnetwork 414. The media guidance application may also retrieve mediaasset identifiers from media content source 416 and/or media guidancedata source 418. The media guidance application may generate for displaymedia asset identifiers to be displayed on display 312 or on a displaythat is external to the device where the media guidance application isimplemented (e.g., device 402, 404 and/or any device 406).

For example, the media guidance application may identify the firstplurality of media assets by comparing the search expression withmetadata associated with the media assets. The metadata may be includedas part of the media asset identifiers associated with the media assets,respectively, that may be stored locally in storage 308. Alternativelyor additionally, media asset identifiers may be stored at media contentsource 416 and/or media guidance data source 418, which can be accessedover communications network 414. The media guidance application mayretrieve the media asset identifiers from media content source 416and/or media guidance data source 418 in order to compare the searchexpression with the media asset identifiers. In another example, themedia guidance application may transmit the search expression to aremote server (e.g., media content source 414 and/or media guidance datasource 418) where the media assets that match the search expression maybe identified. The media guidance application may receive back from theserver (e.g., media content source 414 and/or media guidance data source418) media asset identifiers that match the search expression. If themedia guidance application determines that only one element is includedin the search expression (e.g., a keyword), the media guidanceapplication may compare the keyword to the media asset identifiers orother metadata associated with the media asset in order to find a matchfor the keyword. If the media guidance application determines severalelements that are included in the search expression (e.g., a keyword anda type of media asset), the media guidance application may identifymedia assets based on matching both elements included in the searchexpression. Alternatively, the media guidance application may identifymedia assets that match one or both elements included in the searchexpression to be included in the first plurality of media assets.

FIG. 5 illustrates one method that a media guidance application mayreceive a search expression. In FIG. 5, the media guidance applicationmay enable a user to input keywords (e.g., via user device 310 (FIG. 3)into input area 524. The media guidance application may accept inputfrom user input interface 310, which may accept commands from user inputdevices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, remote control, etc.). The mediaguidance application may then wait for the user to select icon 526 inorder to execute the search. Alternatively or additionally, the mediaguidance application may execute the search through an input from one ofthe user devices mentioned above (e.g., user pressing a key on thekeyboard, remote control and/or a mouse).

The media guidance application may then generate for display (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304 on display 312) a second plurality of media assetidentifiers corresponding to media assets that are scheduled fortransmission to the plurality of users during the time interval. Themedia guidance application may generate for display the second pluralityof media asset identifiers on display 312. Alternatively oradditionally, the media guidance application may generate for displaythe media asset identifiers on a display associated with another device(e.g., any of device 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4)).

FIG. 5 illustrates one way that the media guidance application maygenerate for display the second plurality of media asset identifiers.The media guidance application may generate for display screen 500.Screen 500 may include clock 504 that displays the current time.Horizontal axis 520 displays time periods within a time interval (e.g.,time period 506 corresponding to 7:00). FIG. 5 shows time periods of7:00 to 7:30 and 7:30 to 8:00 within the time interval between 7:00 and8:00. Vertical axis 522 displays content sources (e.g., Fox, ABC, etc.).As described above, content sources may include Internet sources (e.g.,CNN.com 118 (FIG. 1)), Video-on-Demand sources (e.g., HBO On Demand 114(FIG. 1)), recorded programs (e.g., recorded program listings 116 (FIG.1)), etc.

The media guidance application may visually distinguish a first portionof the second plurality of media asset identifiers, corresponding to thefirst plurality of media assets identified based on the searchexpression, from a second portion of the second plurality of a mediaasset identifiers corresponding to media assets not identified based onthe search expression. For example, the media guidance application mayindicate media asset identifiers corresponding to media assetsidentified based on the search expression differently from the mediaasset identifiers corresponding to media assets that were not identifiedbased on the search expression. FIG. 5 illustrates those distinctions.In FIG. 5, media asset identifiers that correspond to media assetsidentified based on the search expression (e.g., media asset identifiers508, 510, 512, 514, and 516) are indicated by different types of shadingand media assets that were not identified based on the search expression(e.g., “Simpsons,” “Terminator 2,” etc.) have not been shaded at all.

The media guidance application may also visually distinguish a firstmedia asset identifier in the first portion from a second media assetidentifier in the first portion based on a first attribute associatedwith a first media asset corresponding to the first media assetidentifier and a second attribute associated with a second media assetcorresponding to the second media asset identifier. As referred toherein, the term “attribute associated with a media asset” refers to anycharacteristic of a media asset. As referred to herein, the term “typeof attribute associated with a media asset” refers to a grouping ofattributes that may be associated with different media assets. Forexample, some types of attributes may include quality, genre, programtype, etc. Genres may include action, comedy, adventure, drama, etc.,which are attributes associated with media assets. Program type mayinclude news, movies, cartoons, documentaries, etc., which are alsoattributes associated with different media assets.

Continuing with the example above, in FIG. 5 media asset identifier 508and media asset identifier 514 are shaded differently based on mediaasset (“Will & Grace”) corresponding to media asset identifier 508 beingassociated with a “comedy” genre and media asset (“ER”) corresponding tomedia asset identifier 514 being associated with a “drama” genre. Themedia guidance application may base the shading on the genre of themedia assets identified based on the search expression, as exemplifiedin legend 518. In addition, FIG. 5 shows area 502 that is associatedwith the currently selected media asset identifier 508. The mediaguidance application may generate for display inside area 502 dataassociated with the media asset corresponding to selected media assetidentifier 508. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, area 502 may displaythe name associated with the media asset as well as a representation ofa content source making the media asset available. The media guidanceapplication may also, based on a user selection of the first media assetidentifier, generate for display information associated with the firstattribute inside area 502. For example, FIG. 5 illustrates that themedia guidance application selected genre as the type of attribute tovisually distinguish media asset identifiers corresponding to the mediaassets identified based on the search expression and that the currentlyselected media asset identifier corresponds to a media asset that has anassociated genre of “comedy.”

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may enable a user toenter a search expression and, based on the search expression entered,identify the time interval where the time interval is based on a numberof media assets matching that search expression that are scheduled to betransmitted to the user during that time interval. Specifically, themedia guidance application may receive the search expression from theuser. For example, as described above, the media guidance applicationmay receive the search expression through user input interface 310 (FIG.3) via a user input device (e.g., keyboard, mouse, remote control, voiceinput, etc.). In another example, the media guidance application mayreceive the search expression from media content source 416 and/or mediaguidance data source 418 via communications network 414. Alternativelyor additionally, the media guidance application may receive the searchexpression from another device (e.g., user television equipment 402,user computer equipment 404, and/or any wireless communication device406).

The media guidance application may then perform a search of media assetsthat are scheduled for transmission to the plurality of users. Forexample, as described above, the media guidance application may havereceived keyword “news” to be included in the search expression. Themedia guidance application may compare keyword “news” with text that isincluded as part of metadata associated with each media asset (e.g.,program listing, etc.). The metadata may reside in a database that listsmedia assets and information associated with each media asset (e.g.,title, director, actors, genre, type of media asset, etc.). The mediaguidance application may directly access the database via controlcircuitry 304 if the database resides in storage 308. However, the mediaguidance application may access the database via communications network414, if the database resides on a remote server (e.g., media contentsource 416 and/or media guidance data source 418). It should be notedthat the database may be distributed between any of storage 308 (FIG.3), media content source 416 (FIG. 4), and/or media guidance data source418 (FIG. 4).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may transmit thesearch expression to a remote server (e.g., media content source 416and/or media guidance data source 418) and receive back media assetidentifiers associated with media assets that match the searchexpression. Media asset identifiers may include alphanumeric stringsthat in turn may include the title of the media asset, if the mediaasset is part of the series, an episode number, etc. A media assetidentifier may also include a hash that may be derived from acombination of attributes associated with the media asset (e.g., title,release data, episode number, etc.). When the media guidance applicationreceives media asset identifiers corresponding to media assetsidentified by the search, the media guidance application may thencompare those media asset identifiers to locally stored media assetidentifiers to determine which media asset identifiers to generate fordisplay.

The media guidance application may then determine the time interval,where the time interval corresponds to a time period that includes alargest number of media assets that are found based on the searchexpression. For example, the media guidance application may retrieve thescheduled start and end times for each media asset identified based onthe search expression. The media guidance application may then determinewhich time period is associated with the largest number of identifiedmedia assets scheduled for transmission. For example, the media guidanceapplication may build a table of one-hour time periods for the upcomingweek. The media guidance application may then iterate through the mediaassets identified based on the search and fill in the time periodsduring which each media asset is scheduled for transmission. When themedia guidance application finishes filling in the time periods, themedia guidance application may select the time period that has the mostentries. The media guidance application may then determine the timeinterval by expanding the time period to what can be displayed on adisplay (e.g., display 312). For example, if the media guidanceapplication determines that a three-hour time interval can be displayed,then the media guidance application may expand the one-hour time periodby one hour prior to the time period and one hour after the time periodto determine a three-hour time interval.

The media guidance application may then identify the first plurality ofmedia assets that is scheduled for transmission to the plurality ofusers during the time interval. The media guidance application may makethe identification of the media assets scheduled for transmission duringthe time interval via any of the methods described above (e.g., metadatacomparison, etc.).

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may also selectwhich representations of content sources to generate for display alongwith media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets scheduled fortransmission by those content sources. As described above, the mediaguidance application may generate for display representations of contentsources that are displayed at the time the search is executed along withmedia asset identifiers corresponding to media assets that are scheduledfor transmission from those content sources during the time interval. Inanother example, the media guidance application may generate for displayrepresentations of user's favorite content sources together with themedia asset identifiers corresponding to media assets that are scheduledfor transmission from those content sources during the time interval.Additionally or alternatively, the media guidance application may selectcontent sources that are associated with media assets scheduled fortransmission during the time interval and that have been identifiedbased on the search expression. For example, if representations ofchannels 1-5 have been generated for display together with media assetidentifiers corresponding to media assets that are scheduled fortransmission on those channels during the time interval and the mediaassets that match the search expression are not scheduled fortransmission on channels 4 and 5, the media guidance application mayreplace representations of channels 4 and 5 as well as media assetidentifiers corresponding to those channels with two different channelsthat have media assets scheduled for transmission during the timeinterval.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may enable a user tonavigate to a different time interval and present to the user mediaasset identifiers corresponding to media assets identified based on thesearch expression that are scheduled for transmission during thedifferent time interval. Specifically, the media guidance applicationmay receive a command (e.g., from a user) to navigate to a differenttime interval. The media guidance application may receive the commandvia any methods described above (e.g., via a keyboard, a mouse, a remotecontrol, or any other input device). Any user input device that is ableto communicate with user input interface 310 may be used.

The media guidance application may then identify a fourth portion of thefirst plurality of media assets, where the fourth portion of the firstplurality of media assets comprises media assets scheduled fortransmission to the plurality of users during the different timeinterval and from the plurality of content sources. For example, themedia guidance application may have received a user command (e.g., via aright arrow press on a remote control) to navigate to the next timeinterval. The media guidance application may then retrieve media assetidentifiers corresponding to media assets that were identified based onthe search expression, but for the next time interval. The mediaguidance application may then generate for display those media assetidentifiers along with media asset identifiers that are scheduled forthe next time interval that have not been identified based on the searchexpression. As described above, the media guidance application mayvisually distinguish the media asset identifiers corresponding to mediaassets that were identified based on the search expression from themedia asset identifiers that correspond to media assets that were notidentified based on the search expression.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may enable a user tonavigate to a different plurality of content sources and present to theuser media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets identifiedbased on the search expression that are scheduled for transmission fromthe different plurality of content sources. The media guidanceapplication may receive a command to navigate to a different pluralityof content sources. The media guidance application may receive thecommand in the same manner as the command to navigate to a differenttime interval. The media guidance application may then identify a thirdportion of the first plurality of media assets, where the third portionof the first plurality of media assets comprises media assets scheduledfor transmission to the plurality of users during the time interval andfrom the different plurality of content sources. The media guidanceapplication may perform the identification in the same manner asdescribed above.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may use indicatorsin order to visually distinguish media asset identifiers that correspondto media assets identified based on a search expression from media assetidentifiers that correspond to media assets that were not identifiedbased on the search expression. The media guidance application may alsouse different indicators to visually differentiate media assetidentifiers that were identified based on the search expression fromeach other based on an attribute. For example, the media guidanceapplication may determine that media asset identifiers based on a searchexpression are to be differentiated based on genre. The media guidanceapplication may determine that five specific genres are available tovisually differentiate (e.g., action, drama, comedy, thriller, andhorror). The media guidance application may then determine what type ofindicators to use for genre. For example, the media guidance applicationmay determine that colors are to be used for different genres.Additionally or alternatively, the media guidance application maydetermine that different shadings of media asset identifiers are to beused. In another example, different geographical shapes may be used and,in yet another example, alpha-numeric text or symbols may be used. Themedia guidance application may use any combination of the aboveindicators to visually differentiate the media asset identifiers. Themedia guidance application may determine which type of indicators to usebased on, for example, user's preferences, whether explicitly indicatedor implicitly determined by the media guidance application. Additionallyor alternatively, the media guidance application may determine the typeof indicators to use in a random manner.

The media guidance application may then determine which attribute toassign to each indicator (e.g., horror to color “red”). The mediaguidance application may make the determination based on a userpreference or randomly. It should be noted that the media guidanceapplication may make the selection in any other manner. For example, acontent provider may program the media guidance application to alwaysuse the same method. Specifically, the content provider may program themedia guidance application to use different colors for different genres.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may determine a typeof attribute to use based on the search expression. For example, themedia guidance application may receive keyword “movies” to be includedin the search expression. The media guidance application maycross-reference the keyword “movies” with a database that lists keywordsand possible attribute types for those keywords. The media guidanceapplication may, based on the cross-referencing, select a genre as thetype of attribute to use to visually differentiate media assetidentifiers. Additionally or alternatively, the media guidanceapplication may, based on the cross-referencing, select quality as theattribute. In some embodiments the media guidance application may selectboth genre and quality and also select different types of indicators torepresent both. For example, if the media guidance application selectsgenre and quality as attributes to visually differentiate media assetidentifiers by, the media guidance application may differentiatedifferent genres through color (e.g., media asset identifiers associatedwith horror movies in red color) and different quality through shading(e.g., vertical lines for HD quality movies and horizontal for SDquality movies). The media guidance application may apply bothdifferentiators where a media asset identifier for a horror HD moviewould be generated for display in red and shaded vertically.

In some embodiments, the media guidance application may enable a user todefine a search expression and store it for later use. Specifically, themedia guidance application may generate for display (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304 on display 312) a plurality of options, where theplurality of options enables a user to define the search expression andthe time interval. For example, the media guidance application maygenerate for display a screen that may include selectable options forgenre, release year, episode number, etc., in order to define the searchexpression. In addition, the media guidance application may generate fordisplay areas where keywords may be entered such as to search titles,actors, directors, writers, etc. Additionally or alternatively, themedia guidance application may generate for display time intervals thata user may select. Time interval choices were described above. The mediaguidance application may retrieve these options from a database (e.g.,in storage 308, at media content source 416, and/or media guidance datasource 418) or they may be programmed into the media guidanceapplication.

The media guidance application may then receive user input defining thesearch expression and the time interval. Methods of receiving user inputhave been described at length above. The media guidance application maythen store (via control circuitry 304), in a database, the definedsearch expression and the time interval. As described above, thedatabase may be placed locally in storage 308 or on a remote server(e.g., media content source 416 and/or media guidance data source 418).The database may be distributed as described above. The media guidanceapplication may, based on a user command to execute a search based onthe stored search expression, retrieve (e.g., via control circuitry 304)the stored search expression and the stored time interval from thedatabase. The media guidance application may then identify (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304), based on the search expression, a secondplurality of media assets that is scheduled for transmission to theplurality of users during the defined time interval.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in providing searchresults to a user. It should be noted that process 600 or any stepthereof could be performed on, or provided by, any of the devices shownin FIGS. 3-4. For example, process 600 may be executed by controlcircuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by a media guidance applicationimplemented on user equipment 402, 404, and/or 406 (FIG. 4) in order todistribute control of media guidance application operations for a targetdevice among multiple user devices. In addition, one or more steps ofprocess 600 may be incorporated into or combined with one or more stepsof any other process or embodiment (e.g., process 700 (FIG. 7)).

At step 602, a media guidance application identifies (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304), based on a search expression, a first plurality of mediaassets that is scheduled for transmission to a plurality of users duringa time interval. For example, as discussed above, the media guidanceapplication may search through media asset identifiers and/or a databaselisting media assets and media asset attributes in order to identifymedia assets based on the search expression.

At step 604, the media guidance application generates for display (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 on display 312 (FIG. 3)) a second plurality ofmedia asset identifiers corresponding to media assets that is scheduledfor transmission to the plurality of users during the time interval. Forexample, as discussed above, the media guidance application may generatefor display screen 500 (FIG. 5).

At step 606, the media guidance application visually distinguishes(e.g., via control circuitry 304 on display 312 (FIG. 3)) a firstportion of the second plurality of media asset identifiers,corresponding to the first plurality of media assets identified based onthe search expression, from a second portion of the second plurality ofmedia asset identifiers corresponding to media assets not identifiedbased on the search expression, where a first media asset identifier inthe first portion is visually distinguished from a second media assetidentifier in the first portion based on a first attribute associatedwith a first media asset corresponding to the first media assetidentifier and a second attribute associated with a second media assetcorresponding to the second media asset identifier. For example, FIG. 5illustrates one possible embodiment of the visual distinction.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 6 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 6 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Furthermore, it should be noted that anyof the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of illustrative steps involved in providingfurther details for providing search results to a user. It should benoted that process 700 or any step thereof could be performed on, orprovided by, any of the devices shown in FIGS. 3-4. For example, process700 may be executed by control circuitry 304 (FIG. 3) as instructed by amedia guidance application implemented on user equipment 402, 404,and/or 406 (FIG. 4) in order to distribute control of media guidanceapplication operations for a target device among multiple user devices.In addition, one or more steps of process 700 may be incorporated intoor combined with one or more steps of any other process or embodiment(e.g., process 600 (FIG. 6)).

At step 702, the media guidance application identifies (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304), based on a search expression, a first pluralityof media assets that is scheduled for transmission to a plurality ofusers. As described above, the media guidance application may comparemedia asset identifiers corresponding to media assets with the searchexpression in order to identify media assets that match the searchexpression. Additionally or alternatively, the media guidanceapplication may cross-reference the search expression with a databaselocated in storage 308, media content source 416, and/or media guidancedata source 418 in order to identify those media assets that match thesearch expression. The media guidance application may store media assetidentifiers corresponding to media assets that were identified based onthe search expression in storage 308. Additionally or alternatively, themedia guidance application may tag media assets that were identifiedbased on the search expression with a flag. In yet another embodiment,the media guidance application may store references and/or pointers tomedia asset identifiers identified for the first plurality of mediaassets in a data structure.

At step 704, the media guidance application determines (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304) whether any media assets were identified based onthe search expression. The media guidance application may access storage308, media content source 416 and/or media guidance data source 418 inorder to determine if any media assets were identified based on thesearch expression. Specifically, the media guidance application may havestored media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets that wereidentified based on the search expression in a data structure. The mediaguidance application may, upon storing the media asset identifiers inthe data structure, increment a counter stored in storage 308 in orderto determine the number of media assets that were matched based on thesearch expression. The media guidance application may, at this time,retrieve the value associated with the counter to determine if any mediaassets were identified based on the search expression. If the mediaguidance application does not identify any media assets based on thesearch expression, the process ends. If the media guidance applicationidentifies at least one media asset based on the search expression, theprocess moves to step 706.

At step 706, the media guidance application determines (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304) a time interval that corresponds to a time periodthat includes the largest number of media assets that are identifiedbased on the search expression. The media guidance application may makethe determination via any methods described above (e.g., by building atable in storage 308, at media content source 416 and/or media guidancedata source 418).

At step 708, the media guidance application may identify (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304) a second plurality of media assets that isscheduled for transmission to the plurality of users during the timeinterval. Specifically, the media guidance application maycross-reference the time interval with a database listing media assetsand their respectively scheduled transmission times. For example, themedia guidance application may iterate through each media asset in thedatabase and compare the scheduled start time and the scheduled end timeof each media asset to the start time and the end time of the timeinterval. If the media guidance application finds an overlap, the mediaguidance application may, for example, store a reference with the mediaasset identifier corresponding to the media asset where the referenceidentifies the media asset as belonging to the second plurality of mediaassets.

At step 710, the media guidance application determines (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304) whether any more media asset identifiersassociated with media assets corresponding to the second plurality ofmedia assets are to be generated for display. If the media guidanceapplication determines that no more media asset identifiers are to begenerated for display, the process ends. If the media guidanceapplication determines that more media asset identifiers are to bedisplayed, then the process moves to step 712. The media guidanceapplication may make that determination by, for example, accessing instorage 308 the references that were created as part of step 708.

At step 712, the media guidance application selects (e.g., via controlcircuitry 304) a media asset identifier corresponding to the secondplurality of media assets that has not yet been generated for display.The media guidance application may, for example, have stored the mediaasset identifiers corresponding to media associated with the secondplurality of media assets in a data structure. The media guidanceapplication may select one of the media asset identifiers from the datastructure to generate for display.

At step 714, the media guidance application determines (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304) whether the selected media asset identifiercorresponds to a media asset that is associated with the first pluralityof media assets. The media guidance application may make thedetermination based on a tag, a flag or a data structure described instep 702. If the media guidance application determines that the mediaasset identifier does not correspond to a media asset associated withthe first plurality of media assets, the process moves to step 716. Ifthe media guidance application determines that the media assetidentifier does correspond to a media asset associated with the firstplurality of media assets, the process moves to step 718.

At step 716, the media guidance application generates for display (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 on display 312) the selected media assetidentifier. As part of this step, the media guidance application mayupdate the data structure of step 710 that includes media assetidentifiers to generate for display by removing the selected media assetidentifier from the data structure. At this point, the process movesforward to step 710. For example, FIG. 5 illustrates generating fordisplay a media asset identifier corresponding to a selected media assetthat is not identified based on the search expression. In FIG. 5, themedia asset identifiers for “The Bourne Identity” and for “Terminator”are generated for display free of any indicators.

At step 718, the media guidance application determines (e.g., viacontrol circuitry 304) an indicator corresponding to an attributeassociated with the media asset corresponding to the selected mediaasset identifier. As indicated by Legend of Search Results 518 (FIG. 5),the media guidance application may select different shadings fordifferent attributes (e.g., media asset identifiers for comedies beingshaded with titled lines). In order to make the determination, the mediaguidance application may access a database that may be located instorage 308 or on a remote server (e.g., media content source 416 and/ormedia guidance data source 418) that lists media asset attributes andtheir corresponding indicators. Additionally or alternatively, the mediaguidance application may make the determination on the fly (via controlcircuitry 304) by, for example, randomly determining the indicator froma list of possible indicators. The media guidance application may alsodetermine the indicator based on user preferences, which may have beenexplicitly specified by the user or determined by the media guidanceapplication.

At step 720, the media guidance application generates for display (e.g.,via control circuitry 304 on display 312) the selected media assetidentifier and the indicator. As part of this step, the media guidanceapplication may update the data structure of step 710 that includesmedia asset identifiers to generate for display by removing the selectedmedia asset identifier from the data structure. At this point, theprocess moves forward to step 710.

It is contemplated that the steps or descriptions of FIG. 7 may be usedwith any other embodiment of this disclosure. In addition, the steps anddescriptions described in relation to FIG. 7 may be done in alternativeorders or in parallel to further the purposes of this disclosure. Forexample, each of these steps may be performed in any order or inparallel or substantially simultaneously to reduce lag or increase thespeed of the system or method. Furthermore, it should be noted that anyof the devices or equipment discussed in relation to FIGS. 3-4 could beused to perform one or more of the steps in FIG. 7.

The above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are presentedfor purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and the presentdisclosure is limited only by the claims that follow. Furthermore, itshould be noted that the features and limitations described in any oneembodiment may be applied to any other embodiment herein, and flowchartsor examples relating to one embodiment may be combined with any otherembodiment in a suitable manner, done in different orders, or done inparallel. In addition, the systems and methods described herein may beperformed in real time. It should also be noted, the systems and/ormethods described above may be applied to, or used in accordance with,other systems and/or methods. Furthermore, as referred herein, the term“in response to” refers to initiated as a result of. For example, afirst action being performed in response to another action may includeinterstitial steps between the first action and the second action. Asreferred herein, the term “directly in response to” refers to caused by.For example, a first action being performed directly in response toanother action may not include interstitial steps between the firstaction and the second action.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for presenting search results in a mediaguidance application, the method comprising: receiving, from a user, asearch expression; transmitting, to a database that lists keywords andattribute types for those keywords, a request for a type of attributeassociated with the search expression, wherein the request includes thesearch expression; receiving, in response to the request, the type ofattribute associated with the search expression; determining, based onthe type of attribute received in response to the request, a firstattribute of a first media asset; determining, based on the type ofattribute received in response to the request, a second attribute,different than the first attribute, of a second media asset; performinga search of media assets that are scheduled for transmission to aplurality of users based on the search expression; determining a timeinterval that corresponds to a time period that includes a largestnumber of media assets that are found based on the search; andidentifying a first plurality of media assets that are scheduled fortransmission to the plurality of users during the time interval;generating for display a second plurality of media asset identifierscorresponding to media assets that are scheduled for transmission to theplurality of users during the time interval; and visually distinguishinga first portion of the second plurality of media asset identifiers,corresponding to the first plurality of media assets identified based onthe search expression, from a second portion of the second plurality ofa media asset identifiers corresponding to media assets not identifiedbased on the search expression, wherein a first media asset identifierin the first portion is visually distinguished from a second media assetidentifier in the first portion based on a determination that (1) thefirst attribute of the first media asset corresponds to the first mediaasset identifier and (2) the second attribute, different from the firstattribute, of the second media asset corresponds to the second mediaasset identifier.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:generating for display a first plurality of indicators corresponding toa plurality of content sources along a first axis; generating fordisplay a second plurality of indicators corresponding to a plurality oftime periods along a second axis, wherein the plurality of time periodsis within the time interval; arranging the displayed second plurality ofmedia asset identifiers according to a respective source and arespective time period; and generating for display, for each media assetidentifier in the first portion of the second plurality of media assetidentifiers, an indicator corresponding to an attribute associated witha respective media asset identifier.
 3. The method of claim 2 furthercomprising: receiving a command to navigate to a different plurality ofcontent sources; and identifying a third portion of the first pluralityof media assets, wherein the third portion of the first plurality ofmedia assets comprises media assets scheduled for transmission to theplurality of users during the time interval and from the differentplurality of content sources.
 4. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: receiving a command to navigate to a different timeinterval; and identifying a fourth portion of the first plurality ofmedia assets, wherein the fourth portion of the first plurality of mediaassets comprises media assets scheduled for transmission to theplurality of users during the different time interval and from theplurality of content sources.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining the first portion of the second plurality ofmedia asset identifiers; determining the second portion of the secondplurality of media asset identifiers; and generating for display thefirst portion and the second portion, wherein: each media assetidentifier associated with the first portion comprises an indicatorindicating a corresponding attribute; the first media asset identifiercomprises a first indicator corresponding to a first attributeassociated with a media asset corresponding to the first media assetidentifier; and the second media asset identifier comprises a secondindicator corresponding to a second attribute associated with a mediaasset corresponding to the second media asset identifier.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: assigning a first indicator to the firstmedia asset; assigning a second indicator, different than the firstindicator, to the second media asset; and generating for display thefirst media asset identifier with the first indicator and the secondmedia asset identifier with the second indicator.
 7. The method of claim1, wherein identifying, based on the search expression, the firstplurality of media assets that are scheduled for transmission to theplurality of users during the time interval further comprises: comparingthe search expression with each media asset in a database listing mediaassets, attributes corresponding to those media assets, and scheduledtimes corresponding to those media assets; identifying, based on thecomparing, those media assets that match the search expression;retrieving, from the database, a scheduled transmission time associatedwith each identified media asset; identifying the time interval based ona time period comprising the largest number of the identified mediaassets; and selecting, from the identified media assets that match thesearch expression, the first plurality of media assets.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: generating for display a plurality ofoptions, wherein the plurality of options enables a user to define thesearch expression and the time interval; receiving user input definingthe search expression and the time interval; storing, in a database, thedefined search expression and the time interval; based on a user commandto execute a search based on the stored search expression, retrievingthe stored search expression and the stored time interval from thedatabase; and identifying, based on the search expression, a secondplurality of media assets that are scheduled for transmission to theplurality of users during the defined time interval.
 9. A system forpresenting search results in a media guidance application, the systemcomprising: a user input device; communications circuitry configured to:receive, from the user input device, a search expression; transmit, to adatabase that lists keywords and attribute types for those keywords, arequest for a type of attribute associated with the search expression,wherein the request includes the search expression; receive, in responseto the request, the type of attribute associated with the searchexpression; control circuitry configured to: determine, based on thetype of attribute received in response to the request, a first attributeof a first media asset; determine, based on the type of attributereceived in response to the request, a second attribute, different thanthe first attribute, of a second media asset; perform a search of mediaassets that are scheduled for transmission to a plurality of users basedon the search expression; determine a time interval that corresponds toa time period that includes a largest number of media assets that arefound based on the search; and identify a first plurality of mediaassets that are scheduled for transmission to the plurality of usersduring the time interval; generate for display a second plurality ofmedia asset identifiers corresponding to media assets that are scheduledfor transmission to the plurality of users during the time interval; andvisually distinguish a first portion of the second plurality of mediaasset identifiers, corresponding to the first plurality of media assetsidentified based on the search expression, from a second portion of thesecond plurality of a media asset identifiers corresponding to mediaassets not identified based on the search expression, wherein a firstmedia asset identifier in the first portion is visually distinguishedfrom a second media asset identifier in the first portion based on adetermination that (1) a first attribute of a first media assetcorresponds to the first media asset identifier and (2) a secondattribute, different from the first attributes, of a second media assetcorresponds to the second media asset identifier.
 10. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:generate for display a first plurality of indicators corresponding to aplurality of content sources along a first axis; generate for display asecond plurality of indicators corresponding to a plurality of timeperiods along a second axis, wherein the plurality of time periods iswithin the time interval; arrange the displayed second plurality ofmedia asset identifiers according to a respective source and arespective time period; and generate for display, for each media assetidentifier in the first portion of the second plurality of media assetidentifiers, an indicator corresponding to an attribute associated witha respective media asset identifier.
 11. The system of claim 10, whereinthe control circuitry is further configured to: receive a command tonavigate to a different plurality of content sources; and identify athird portion of the first plurality of media assets, wherein the thirdportion of the first plurality of media assets comprises media assetsscheduled for transmission to the plurality of users during the timeinterval and from the different plurality of content sources.
 12. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto: receive a command to navigate to a different time interval; andidentify a fourth portion of the first plurality of media assets,wherein the fourth portion of the first plurality of media assetscomprises media assets scheduled for transmission to the plurality ofusers during the different time interval and from the plurality ofcontent sources.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein the controlcircuitry is further configured to: determine the first portion of thesecond plurality of media asset identifiers; determine the secondportion of the second plurality of media asset identifiers; and generatefor display the first portion and the second portion, wherein: eachmedia asset identifier associated with the first portion comprises anindicator indicating a corresponding attribute; the first media assetidentifier comprises a first indicator corresponding to a firstattribute associated with a media asset corresponding to the first mediaasset identifier; and the second media asset identifier comprises asecond indicator corresponding to a second attribute associated with amedia asset corresponding to the second media asset identifier.
 14. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is further configuredto: assign a first indicator to the first media asset; assign a secondindicator, different than the first indicator, to the second mediaasset; and generate for display the first media asset identifier withthe first indicator and the second media asset identifier with thesecond indicator.
 15. The system of claim 9, wherein the controlcircuitry configured to identify, based on the search expression, thefirst plurality of media assets that are scheduled for transmission tothe plurality of users during the time interval is further configuredto: compare the search expression with each media asset in a databaselisting media assets, attributes corresponding to those media assets,and scheduled times corresponding to those media assets; identify, basedon the comparing, those media assets that match the search expression;retrieve, from the database, a scheduled transmission time associatedwith each identified media asset; identify the time interval based on atime period comprising the largest number of the identified mediaassets; and select, from the identified media assets that match thesearch expression, the first plurality of media assets.
 16. The systemof claim 9, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:generate for display a plurality of options, wherein the plurality ofoptions enables a user to define the search expression and the timeinterval; receive user input defining the search expression and the timeinterval; store, in a database, the defined search expression and thetime interval; based on a user command to execute a search based on thestored search expression, retrieve the stored search expression and thestored time interval from the database; and identify, based on thesearch expression, a second plurality of media assets that are scheduledfor transmission to the plurality of users during the defined timeinterval.